skinnymixer’s Roast Pork Belly with Caramelised Apple Sauce

I have been hoarding this amazing pork belly recipe for a good year… the plan was for it to go into my first cookbook, but then I went with Indian, and then Asian – so I figure Christmas is the perfect time to share it with everyone. Steamed meat isnt high on everyones list, but par cooking this in the Thermomix or Bellini then finishing it off in the oven is the best way to ensure fall apart, moist meat. I hope you all love this recipe as much as my family did. P.s. My kids call this one “Big Bacon”.

Put the steaming tray in place, with the pork belly inside (either the deep tray or the flat tray, which ever it fits best in). Steam for 60 min/steaming temperature/speed 2. In the mean time, preheat oven to 250°C or 480°F(or max temp) fan forced when there is 20 minutes remaining.

Remove roast to roasting tray and pat the skin of the pork dry. Rub the rind with a little oil, then salt the rind liberally. Pour apple sauce around the base of the pork. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until well browned. If your oven is one of those ovens that refuses to produce beautiful crackling, try putting it under a medium grill before serving.

This is on of our favourite recipes! Maybe its my oven, but I cook it for a good hour to get the skin nice and crispy, the sauce prevents it from going dry.
Last 20 mins I steam veggies (which cleans the bowl!)

Wow this was amazing!!!!! i normally don’t comment on threads but this meal deserved a comment. If you have not tried this then make sure you do – my crackle never works so I didn’t want to try this incase it didn’t turn out as great as everyone says…..but….. the crackle was crunchy and my family devoured it
So a big thank you for another amazing delicious recipe

I Just made this for our family everyone was amazed. that I diden’t burn the crackel The pork was so tender, full of flavour and had the most amazing Flovour And the caramaluzed apple sauce was delicious. To top it all off it was so easy and hardly any mess. This recipe will now be another staple in our home. Thank you so much Nic
REPLY

It would be simpler just to make a quick apple sauce as with this recipe the pork juices run into the jug as it is cooking… apple sauce requires much less water than this recipe asks as it is steaming the pork at the same time. Just google apple sauce thermomix and one will come up

Looked at this recipie yesterday and was a bit dubious about trying it, the comments below convinced me to give it a go. I was dubious as I never considered steaming a meat that I’d normally roast … What an amazing tip/trick – will be trying other cuts now . Then the crackling… was amazing – have to protect yours in this house. But the total winner was the sauce – one pot, and just the right balance of sweet and tart and not runny like I thought it would be. Thanks Nik!

This is fantastic, best I’ve ever tasted, used a mix of different apples I wanted to use up the first time, sauce was nothing special but still tasty, this time I’m using Granny Smiths so hope for a better sauce. I found the left over pork reheated well in very hot over ( I’m in a 1 person household) that’s why there were left overs if there was anyone else here it would definitely all be gone. Thanks again for the great recipe and also to all those who asked the questions that helped me out.

1) if my pork belly 1.4kg, do I steam it for another 30 mins?
2) I made it the last time and the crackling didn’t crackle at all. i pat dry, rub salt and waited about 10 mins while the oven heat up. is that because of the standing time and the salt kind of didn’t work as well?

O.M.Gees Louise this dish is great! I saw this and thought now why would I want to put a pork belly in the varoma when the oven works just fine? Well I have a particularly underutilised varoma so thought what the hey, let’s give this a crack(ling). I have a whizz bang oven and the crackling was perfection, the meat so tender and juicy and the sauce the perfect accompaniment. I was so thrilled in it that I had a ‘pork belly off’ with my sister in law (the previous queen of pork) and can I just say… WINNER WINNER PORK DINNER! Try it y’all. It’s ah mazing!

Wow! I love pork belly and it’s always my go to when we’re out at restaurants. Now I may be eating it a little too often! This recipe was very easy and loved by the entire family. (Also the first time I’d used my steamer.) Thank you 🙂

I love this!! I am making it again tonight for dinner.. its my kids favorite! Perfect crackling everytime!! The trick to not burning the sauce in the oven is to use a smaller baking dish (one where the pork belly just fits in it).. Thanks NIK!!!

Incredibly delicious!! I added fennel seeds to the salt when rubbing the skin which I highly recommend trying!
With the exception of where the apple sauce was covering a little of the skin, the crackling was perfection! Really impressed how well the fat cooked down and let crackling over super tender meat.

Ashlee, I was exactly the same, tried it so many times and tried different suggestions to get it to work well eg. smaller roasting tray.

The only way I get it to work perfectly is, when it comes out of varoma and I prep for oven it goes into the oven on its own in the roasting tray for 10mins without the apple sauce. At this stage the crackle has crackled perfectly so I then pour the apple sauce around the pork for the last 10mins and it caramelises beautifully without burning.

I love roast pork but used to avoid cooking it because it was always really difficult and never really worked. Not anymore!! This is a brilliant recipe. Really easy to do and produced the best crackle and apple sauce that I’ve ever made!! Thank you!! 🙂

I made this last night for dinner and have to admit i was not confident it was going to be very nice considering most of the cooking was steaming.. but oh my god this was the yummiest pork with the best crackle! Soooo amazing! I left it in the oven for 45 min and was PERFECT!

Love this recipe 🙂 Bought a piece of belly pork not 100% sure how to cook without ruining it. Searched and found 1 that required 4+ hrs to cook. At 5pm wasn’t looking good for tonight’s dinner. Then remembered seeing this recipe so looked it up and made it. Absolutely delicious and will be a regular menu item.

I am literally amazed at this dish! I made a Pork Belly with a cracking that actually worked!!! Such an easy dish and the hubby was so impressed! This is the new go to Pork Belly recipe for me from now on. Thank you 🙂

Help!!!
I’m having people over for dinner tonight and promised them pork.
I asked the butcher for 900g pork belly and he came out with a thin piece about a metre long! Told him that wasn’t going to fit in thermo.
So I ended up asking for a pork roast. So he asks how many ary you feeding. Oh about 4 to 6. So out comes a giant piece of pork. Again, :/ I say, is there any way we can cut it so it’ll fit into a tray ?(me estimating varoma tray size)
So he takes the bone out..
Now i have 2.2kg pork…. how long do I cook that for????!!!!
Help please

Made this for the first time a couple of nights ago,, it was a HUGE hit, Master 5 went back for more. Hubby loved it and so did I . While pork baked in oven I steamed a heap of fresh veg and master5 ate more veggies then he has ever before. I left the sauce in the roasting dish in the oven while I crackled up under the grill and sliced the roast. By that time the apple sauce was nice and thick… Very yummy

I have never ever enjoyed cooking so much in my life. This recipe is amazing and so easy to follow, as long as you follow all the steps, everyone is destined to be a winner! Roasts are hard to make, but this one, Nik, you hit the nail on the head!! Love it – our Sunday dinner roasts are now made!

Hi there, I’ve had so many people recommend this recipe to me so I’m going to try it this weekend. If I have a piece of pork belly that is nearly double the recipe size, how do I adjust the cooking time? Thanks so much.

Did you take the the top part of as it took forever to get the crackle right I’ve got a brand new oven that is quite large even put under grill but one end went black while other bits didn’t cook enough 🙄

I never thought that successfully cooking juicy pork belly with crunchy crackling could be so easy! Thanks for a fantastic recipe. My oven is one of those that doesn’t get hot enough to get crackling going so I put the whole thing under the grill for about 10 mins after it had been in the oven (had to keep a very close eye on it though as the bit closest to the element was getting a little black and smokey. Just covered it with tinfoil).

Omg. This is divine. This was the first time i have made pork belly and it was amazing. Totally melted in our mouths and the sauce was yummo. My husband said it was the best pork belly he has ever tasted. Thank you.

I loved this dinner, and I’m not a huge fan of pork! I doubled the meat as hubby loves it but then had the error code come up which stopped it and shut down the machine. So, I put it into the oven with my thermometer and finished cooking it. Who would’ve thought that you could steam pork and still get the crackle after in the oven. We had the best pork, crackle and apple sauce sandwiches ever! Amazing!

Made this again last night this time with the apples, I used granny smith and followed to a tee. There was a lot of liquid, I ended up taking the roast out and leaving the sauce in for longer for it reduce. Can someone put up a pic of what the sauce should look like as mine was very soup like at the end of the crackle time. Wondering if I should have put in boiling water to start with to help with the heat while on the Varoma. Nik ? Any suggestions. It tasted delicious though and did it with a shoulder not pork belly.

I didn’t blend the sauce after adding the water because there was too much liquid in the bowl. When the cooking time in the Tmx had finished, and before I put the pork in the oven, I blended the sauce and poured it around the pork. When the pork was done the sauce was quite thick, a bit thicker than apple sauce you’d buy in a jar.

This was very Yum! Moist pork! I had my doubts, but yet again Nik has proven herself. I should learn not to doubt any recipe she posts! I did have to stick under the grill for a few minutes to get crackling, But that is due to my Oven..

Hi all, re pork belly with caramelised apple sauce – I am going nuts trying to find a post I THINK I saw re finishing off after steaming in the thermy in an air fryer that had time and temp… Can anyone point me in the right direction pls? I’ve seen some that are completely cooked in air fryer, but just after the crackling times. Thanks so much if you can! 😁

Oh wow. This is a great dish and so easy! Our oven did not cut the mustard so we had to pop under ther grill to get the crackle right but in the end it was such a winner, Will make agin and use the Webber as that oven gets much hotter! 10/10 thanks for a great recipe!

I made this last night for the first time. I was never game enough to try a pork belly before but everyone’s positive comments inspired me. It turned out beautifully. Congratulations to you Nikalene. What a great recipe and easy too. Now my next challenge is to figure out the times if I need to cook a bigger roast! It was consumed very rapidly. Time recommendations for a larger size welcome….. 🙂

My sauce turned out fine. I followed the recipe and added 1000g of water. I didn’t blend the sauce until just before the pork went in the oven because there was too much liquid in the bowl at the start. The sauce reduced down while the pork was steaming, and reduced a bit more while in the oven.

One word… AMAZING! I have never in my life cooked a roast, and this has made me want to do it on a weekly basis. I felt like I had really achieved something by cooking a dish that was so delicious and was always put in the ‘too hard’ basket. Best of all, it is so simple!! Thanks Nik. Skinnymixers is truly changing my life.

So good! I have made pork belly once before with pans of hot water and this and that instructions and it took forever. This was so easy! My apple sauce did end up a burnt mess around the pork but I had kept some back beforehand and bubbled that in a saucepan, we all enjoyed it. The pork was amazing even my two kids who I thought would pooh pooh it, were asking for seconds (who does’nt love salty crispy pig skin?!). I have a Bellini IKM and did not change a thing in the cooking process and it was perfect. Yum!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’ve never made pork my entire life until tonight. I don’t even really like pork but my husband loves it. So I gave it a go.
Crackling = amazing
Apple sauce = amazing
Pork = AMAZING!
It was so incredibly delicious, I’ll definitely be making this more often!
Thank you.

So I made this last weekend and it was HUGE hit with everyone and so super easy to make! Fast forward to Friday the following week and I’m making ti again as it was super delicious and I can’t stop thinking about it!!!!!

I cooked the Skinnymixer’s Roast Pork Belly with Caramelised Apple Sauce for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I didn’t have pork belly so used a 1.4kg piece of shoulder instead, added extra cooking time and it was so yummy. I never seem to get crackling in my oven either but this time I did. An extra added bonus is that even my super fussy 6yo daughter loved it. For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, get on to it, you won’t be disappointed. Thank you. xo

Tried this recipe on Sunday night, we always have a lamb roast but decided to do a pork. My regret is I didn’t read the recipe through so I had already pureed up some apples. I was dubious as to how such a big slab of meat would cook in the Varoma but I have to say I am converted. The meat was so moist and my crackling was awesome, excepting the apples part I followed your recipe to the tee. Thanks again for inspiring us with your dishes – a firm ongoing favourite with my family. Next time I will try with the apples

I made amazing pork today – I even got a crackle! I was really sceptical. Who knew you could get such awesome flavour from a few apples stewed with honey and lemon?? Well after spending the hour thinking how I could give it flavour, I tucked in and it is the best damn apple sauce I have ever had! Sticky and meaty and calling my name! Serving it with home made wedges and greens.

First proper pork belly I’ve made with apple sauce and I feel somewhat guilty about how easy it was to make- a real hit for future dinner parties and if you’re at home wanting something you can make and leave for a while. I made this on a 38c day- clearly proving there really isn’t a bad time to make it! Thank you for the delicious flavours which we both loved- even Sierra will be scoring some leftover pork (pardon the pun!) for her lunch today! x

I made this for dinner tonight… It was soooooo good!! I put it in the oven for the half an hour but then under the grill for about 10-15 to get proper crackling, it was perfect, tender & melted in the mouth. Served it with smashed potatoes & coleslaw with Skinnymixers whole egg mayo as the dressing… Absolute perfection! Will definitely make this one again!

This was absolutely delicious! It is the perfect dinner party dish as it is so simple. We had parents over for dinner last night and they loved it just as much as we did (so did the kids!). We popped roasted veges in the oven at the same time as the pork started and they were perfect by the time the pork was done (including the increase in temp and using the grill for the pork).

I cooked the pork belly for lunch on Christmas Day it was a hit with the whole family. Easiest and best pork belly recipe I have made so far, I am happy to have now found my go to as pork belly is the hubbys fave!

OMG. Made this tonight and it was amazing. Had to finish the crackle off under the grill (stupid oven) but that worked a treat. Served it with roast potatoes and steamed veggies. Divine. Will be making it again for sure.

I loved how easy this was, usually I put my pork belly in the slow cooker for 8 hrs then crisp in the oven to get it this tender, I can’t believe I can get the same effect by steaming for an hour. Also I was cooking it to put into cold rolls so had no need for the Apple sauce so I instead used 1L water with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and star anise and it worked a treat! Thanks for an awesome time saver

Made this for the family today – AWESOME! 😃
As I have a KitchenAid Cook Processor that will not stir whilst using the varoma I had to make a slight variation to the method to cook the apples … I steamed them in the inner basket so they wouldn’t burn during cooking then tipped them & blitzed before adding them to the baking dish.
Very happy with the result! Thank you for sharing recipe.

I made this for tea tonight & it was beautiful. Unfortunately mine didn’t crackle in the oven, so I took it out & hubby did it in the spit. The apple sauce was a little brown, but still nice. I will definitely be making it again, only next time I won’t put the sauce in the baking tray until the pork is almost done.

Tasty (as all Skinnymixer recipes are) and tender! My oven is a stupid oven and wouldn’t crackle the crackling so I used the griller, it still didn’t go well, but certainly not the fault of the recipe.

I am not sure what went wrong but our pork was dry and chewy. It was quite bland too, but nothing but a little more salt can’t fix. The apple sauce was lovely. I am willing to try this recipe again though.

Oh lordy….this pork belly was amazing!!! Thanks Nik for creating this simple but so delicious little beauty! ☺️
My husband comments
“this is the new Sunday roast….if I got served this in a restaurant I’d be berry happy”
My 4 year old comments
“I love crackling”

One word. DEVINE! Not usually a fan of steamed meat but I had it in the oven for half an hour to crispen up the cracking & it was delicious. Apple sauce is fantastic too, sooo much better than the apple sauce You get from the supermarket.

I made the skinnymixers pork belly as part of our Xmas lunch along with my normal glazed ham and turkey roll. It turned out really well with compliments all round. Considering I am still wearing my L plates as far as the varoma is concerned and we finished the pork in the bbq because the oven was full of roast veges. But the apple flavour went all the way through the meat and it had the best crackling ever.
Ps the Christmas brownies were a hit as well. Many thanks. 😊

I cooked the Pork Belly as a part of our Xmas dinner., it was so moist and delicious ..
I used another sticky Asian sauce recipe to go with it.. but will cook again using the recipe as is. As the Pork was so good.

We made this for our Christmas dinner this year and OMG. Delicious doesn’t even describe it. It was amazing. Hubby who isn’t a massive pork fan, absolutely loved it and has requested that we do it at least once a month.
Even 3 picky kids devoured it!

This sounds divine….I’m wanting to cook it for my husband and I on NYE….we will obviously need a smaller piece of pork so can you please tell me how do I adjust the time, both in the thermomix and in the oven. Thanks.

I made this for the first time tonight. Not only was it so easy to make, but it tasted sensational. The pork was so moist, the crackle was to die for, and to top it off the apple sauce………well there are no words to describe the flavour sensation in my mouth!!! Thanks Nik, will definately be making this again!!!

Nik, you definitely have done it again, cooked this tonight (loading) and it is awesome. I have tried sooo many different ways to get good crackle on my pork and this recipe helped me nail it. amazing work as always x x x

I made this for Christmas lunch for the very first time and it was absolutely incredible. The most tender and delicious pork I’ve ever had and the apple sauce was great. I used red delicious apples and there was a beautiful sweetness. Thanks Nik – merry Christmas x

I trusted this lady on a recipe I hadn’t tried before for our Xmas lunch. True to form, absolute winner. The pork belly flesh was tender and moist, the crackling was terrific, but the apple sauce was out of this world.

Made this for Christmas eve! I burnt the top a little vecause I set it on grill but after scraping the black off it was still soooo amazing. I’m very pleased with how simple this dish is, with minimal washing up. Delicious.

I made this for our family christmas dinner and everyone was amazed. The pork was so tender, full of flavour and had the most amazing crackle! And the caramaluzed apple sauce was delicious. To top it all off it was so easy and hardly any mess. This recipe will now be another staple in our home. Thanks Nik!

I tried your recipe today and was really looking forward to it. But I have to be honest I found it to be very bland and tasteless in comparison to all other creations I have tasted from your books and blog. I am so sorry maybe it will improve with a marinading the pork?. I am not a chef or a cook just a very good recipe follower so have no idea how to improve it. I know this is not a positive review but I hope you will appreciate an honest one!!

I made this last night for dinner after looking for something to cook for the family.
It was simple and DELICIOUS! Definitely a winner.
I’m even thinking I will make it Christmas Day as there is little to no effort. Tiberius and the oven did it all for me. Thanks Nic

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